Chapter 2 - Blood and Debts
The subterranean maintenance tunnels of the Crown Harbor Hotel were a labyrinth of exposed copper pipes, hissing steam, and flickering industrial bulbs. Evan followed Claire down the concrete stairs, his designer tuxedo feeling like a suffocating suit of armor. Every step echoed against the cold walls, mocking the extravagant celebration taking place directly above their heads. Upstairs, his mother was likely smoothing over the panic among senators, foreign investors, and high-society aristocrats. Down here, the reality smelled of damp concrete, ozone, and impending violence.
""Explain the red badge,"" Evan demanded, keeping his stride matched with Claire’s brisk pace. ""Daniel was banned from this state, let alone this building. How did he even bypass my perimeter team?""
""Your security team watches the front lobby and the executive elevators, Mr. Lee,"" Claire whispered, her hand resting on the holster concealed beneath her blazer. ""They don't monitor the food delivery docks or the laundry chutes where working-class people break their backs every morning. Daniel entered inside a commercial linen cart at dawn. Grace met him in the corridor at ten last night because he sent her a message that chilled her to the bone. He told her that if she didn't hand over that keycard, a crew of enforcers would detonate an explosive device during your exchange of vows.""
Evan stopped dead in his tracks. A wave of icy dread washed over him. ""An explosive? Daniel is a reckless gambler, but he’s not a terrorist. Who is backing him?""
""A loan shark syndicate operating out of South Boston,"" Claire said, turning to face him under the harsh yellow light. ""Six months ago, Daniel borrowed four million dollars to cover a disastrous cryptocurrency hedge fund. When the market crashed, his creditors came knocking. They didn't just want cash; they wanted access. Specifically, they wanted the master security codes to your family’s private offshore banking servers, which your team brought to the hotel penthouse suite for final signing before the honeymoon.""
May you like
Evan felt the floor tilt beneath his feet. The wedding had been deliberately planned around the confidential transfer of the Lee Corporation's transatlantic merger files. The digital authentication keys were housed inside a biometric cold-storage briefcase currently locked in his private dressing room. If Grace knew about the threat, why hadn't she come to him? Why hadn't she trusted him to deploy his vast resources to protect her?
""She knew your security chief would shoot Daniel on sight,"" Claire stated plainly, as if reading his racing thoughts. ""Peter Cho doesn't negotiate with street thugs. Grace believed she could buy Daniel enough time to retrieve a tracker planted on the server briefcase and disable the remote trigger herself. She chose to bear the cross alone rather than let your wedding turn into a bloodbath. But she underestimated how ruthless these men really are.""
